Set one to three overarching goals for your course. What do you want your students to be able to do when they are done with your course? Several months down the road? Next year? Five years from now? As you write your goals, keep the following in mind:
Factor in context. Who are your students, and what do they need? Remember what you wrote on course context for the tasks in Part 1 of this activity
Set student-focused goals.
Phrase your goals as"Students will be able to…" or "I want students to be able to…".
Avoid phrases such as"I want to expose students to…" or "I want to show students that…". Don't fall into the trap of writing a goal that says "I want students to be able to be exposed to…."!
Set goals involving higher order thinking skills.
Use verbs that signal higher order thinking skills, such as derive, predict, analyze, design, interpret, synthesize, formulate, plan, correlate, evaluate, create, critique and adapt.
Avoid verbs that signal lower order thinking skills, such as list, explain, calculate, know about, identify, describe, recognize, summarize, discuss, define, recall, paraphrase, and locate.
Set goals that are concrete, have measurable outcomes, and provide clear direction for course design.
Avoid verbs such as understand, appreciate, value.
Remember that there is no one right set of overarching goals for a course. Different instructors with different students will likely have different goals or phrase goals differently even if the course is on the same topic.
Our 'Big Hairy' Goals
1. Students enact democratic processes in familiar settings using knowledge of the Australian local, state and federal governments.
2. Analyze values that underpin campaigns and organisations associated with different human or environmental rights.
3. Students evaluate the values associated with familiar rules and laws.
What do you want your students to be able to do when they are done with your course? Several months down the road? Next year? Five years from now? As you write your goals, keep the following in mind:
- Factor in context. Who are your students, and what do they need? Remember what you wrote on course context for the tasks in Part 1 of this activity
- Set student-focused goals.
- Phrase your goals as "Students will be able to…" or "I want students to be able to…".
- Avoid phrases such as "I want to expose students to…" or "I want to show students that…". Don't fall into the trap of writing a goal that says "I want students to be able to be exposed to…."!
- Set goals involving higher order thinking skills.
- Use verbs that signal higher order thinking skills, such as derive, predict, analyze, design, interpret, synthesize, formulate, plan, correlate, evaluate, create, critique and adapt.
- Avoid verbs that signal lower order thinking skills, such as list, explain, calculate, know about, identify, describe, recognize, summarize, discuss, define, recall, paraphrase, and locate.
- Set goals that are concrete, have measurable outcomes, and provide clear direction for course design.
- Avoid verbs such as understand, appreciate, value.
- Remember that there is no one right set of overarching goals for a course. Different instructors with different students will likely have different goals or phrase goals differently even if the course is on the same topic.
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Our 'Big Hairy' Goals1. Students enact democratic processes in familiar settings using knowledge of the Australian local, state and federal governments.
2. Analyze values that underpin campaigns and organisations associated with different human or environmental rights.
3. Students evaluate the values associated with familiar rules and laws.